After his first hits on the tennis court after more than two months, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev felt great relief, but he remains cautious about his comeback.
"I'm happy. First, the way I played was very surprising after more than two months and second, that I really don't have any pain," said the 25-year-old after his first light training session on Saturday on the RTL and ntv television channels. "Of course I moved very carefully, I haven't put any pressure on my foot yet - but now we can look further."
After his serious foot injury on June 3 in the semifinals of the French Open against Rafael Nadal, where he twisted his ankle and tore all three lateral ligaments in his right ankle, Zverev is working hard on his comeback. The US Open from August 29th will probably take place without him. "It's still too early. I've played tennis for the first time now, very, very carefully. But it's still a long way to play in a Grand Slam. Let's see how that will work," said Zverev. He's more hoping for the Davis Cup in his hometown of Hamburg in mid-September: "Sure, I hope I'm 100 percent fit."
Zverev reveals diabetes
At the same time, Zverev surprised with his revelation that he had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since he was four years old. "As a little boy I didn't think about it much, later more and more. I want to show that you can make it very far with this disease," said Zverev and also gave the founding of his foundation "Alexander Zverev Foundation - serve against known as "diabetes".
"Now, many years later and also with the success behind me, I feel comfortable and confident enough to go public with this initiative," said Zverev.
In addition to providing insulin and other essential medicines, his foundation finances projects for affected children and young people. "I'm in the privileged situation of leading a life that I've always wanted to lead. I always wanted to play tennis, travel to tournaments around the world and be one of the best tennis players in the world," said Zverev. He was only able to do this with the unconditional support of his family.
He is aware that not all children are so lucky and "therefore it is very important to me to give something back and to help other affected people on their way".
Diabetes is a metabolic disease, which means that the body can hardly or no longer produce any insulin. Type 1, as with Zverev, has not yet been cured, so those affected have to inject insulin for the rest of their lives.
